A Second Chance
by Art-Over-Matter
Summary: The Enterprise crew is on shore leave, but that doesn't keep trouble from happening after Kirk and Spock have a big argument. This is the third installment in my Star Trek series. (1st is A Risk Worth Taking, the 2nd is The Brink of War.)


_Kirk __*_

"It was nice working with you, Captain Kirk."

The captain raises his eyebrows and turns around, having not realized who stood behind him. "Commander Emara. It is a shame we couldn't have experienced something slightly less… life-threatening together. I have a feeling you make a wonderful first officer." He can't stop himself from giving her a charming smile. One way or another, a woman will be a woman, and Kirk's reaction will be the same.

"Thank you, Captain. However, it's quite obvious to me that you and your Vulcan first officer are…friends, and I wouldn't want to break that. It's a rare thing."

"Well," Kirk says with a side smile, "he's only half Vulcan. But it's nice that you've considered that. Goodbye, Commander. I don't expect we'll meet again."

She smiles and offers her hand to him. He accepts the handshake as she says, "Enjoy your new ship."

Emara leaves to head back to where Mr. Senvik, the transporter officer, and some others are waiting. Kirk turns to the turbolift with a smile on his face, because he knows his next two stops.

The hangar the _Triton _has been stationed at for maintenance is huge. Admittedly, Jim does not spend a lot of his time in starbases, so he's slightly unaccustomed to the monstrously sized rooms.

The _Luna _Class starship is considerably larger than the _Enterprise _and the _Encounter: _Kirk believes he's heard it's 420 meters long. The inside of the ship is deserted, all of its lights off, but the hangar is filled with people: mechanics, engineers, other workers passing by, and the crew of the _Triton. _The captain takes a small step away from the turbolift, wondering how he was ever going to find Spock and Sulu.

"Considering you are only a few feet from the turbolift, Captain, you seem surprisingly lost."

He looks to his left to find Mister Spock standing with his arms behind his back, an eyebrow raised slightly.

"I'm not lost, Spock, I just didn't know how I was going to find you."

"Consider me found. Have you met with Doctor McCoy yet?"

"No, he's my next stop. Where—"

"You're early," Mr. Sulu says, panting as he jogs up to Spock.

The Vulcan glances up at a clock above the turbolift doors. "Actually, Mr. Sulu, you are late. Anyway, I do not believe any of this was technically on a schedule."

"Whatever," Sulu mutters. "Nice to see you, Captain."

"Thank you, Mr. Sulu. Now, I'd better get to dock three before Bones grows impatient."

_McCoy __*_

"Jim, you're late."

"I am not late," he protests. "I'm perfectly on time. Besides, just because you have an impeccable tendency for being early to things doesn't mean everyone else does."

McCoy smiles. "It's nice to see you again, Jim. Not bein' on your ship is considerably…" he searches for the right word, "less interesting."

"Glad to hear it. Now come on, it's about time we take a shore leave."

"You have a lot of talking to do," Bones warns. "You'd better get to it."

Jim sighs. "I do. A lot of explaining."

During the turbolift ride to a spacecraft that will take them to Telanix, Jim explains what happened to him and Drakely, and then him and Spock, in their fight against the BC-2 _Lanchekar. _But then they got to the part Bones really wasn't expecting.

"You blew up the _Enterprise? _You self-destructed the entire thing?"

Jim's expression tightens. "Yes. I just said that. We…. It was the logical thing to do," he offers weakly, as though wanting Spock to take over the conversation from there.

Apparently the Vulcan picks up on this, because he says, "There was nothing to do with the ship otherwise, Doctor McCoy. We could not leave it in the hands of the human colony—it is obvious they would not act responsibly—and it was too far altered for it to be returned to Starfleet."

Bones narrows his eyes at the emotionless way Spock delivers this information, but says nothing.

The turbolift starts to move sideways, and the occupants of it remain silent. They all seem to be working over their feelings about the destruction of the USS _Enterprise. _Well, except Spock. With his detached, apathetic expression, he could be thinking about molecular science, for all McCoy knows.

The four of them leave the turbolift and meet up with the rest of the crew, including Miss Chapel, Mr. Chekov, and Lt. Uhura.

"Ready?" Jim asks, almost by a way of greeting.

"Hard not to be ready for shore leave," Chekov says.

_Kirk __*_

"They are a highly emotional civilization," Spock informs the captain as they exit the spacecraft. "They have senses of honor based entirely upon emotion. Their culture is also built around it. That is most likely the only reason they accepted the humans."

"They must not like you green-blooded Vulcans very much, do they?" Bones asks.

"I do not believe Vulcans have any particular historical association with them, Doctor."

"Well, they will after this, won't they?"

"I do not see how this will be a historical occasion."

"Spock," the captain says. "I think that was the point."

The Vulcan frowns, clearly unsure of what that's supposed to mean.

"Welcome to our city!" an energetic voice says as the trio approaches the city gates. The creature is a biped, with caramel-brown skin and two facetted eyes near the side of its head and, strangely, a wide nose with four nostrils. It's slightly shorter than the average human and is wearing clothing that's covered in glittering sequins, despite the fact that it seems to be male.

"Thank you," Kirk says, rather unsure of how to act emotional enough.

"Before you enter, it's custom for us to be informed of who you are and what your intentions are."

"Ah, we're Starfleet officers. Just coming here for shore leave. I'm Captain James T. Kirk, this is my…" he hesitates. He was about to say 'medical officer,' but figures a better approach would be smarter. "My friend, Leonard McCoy, and my other—"

"First officer," Spock cuts in. "I'm his first officer, Spock. I am a Vulcan."

It takes a moment for the alien to recognize what 'Vulcan' means. "Ah. Well, if you are with Starfleet, we will accept you."

Kirk forces a smile and enters the gates, which have been opened for them. Internally, he's pondering Spock's reaction. He knows it makes the Vulcan uncomfortable to say openly that he's Kirk's friend, but he didn't think it was such a problem to hear Jim himself say it. Honestly, it kind of stings.

They approve their rooms at a hotel and Jim takes his friends—or shall he think of it: his friend and first officer—to his second favorite place to be: a bar.

It's actually a restaurant, split by a half-wall into the alcohol division and the meal division. Kirk passes by the restaurant section and goes immediately to the bar. Bones follows, with Spock reluctantly trailing in the back.

"I do not think, Captain, that this is the wisest place to be," Spock says, sounding slightly exasperated.

"Yes," Jim says heatedly as he orders a drink, despite the fact that Spock's right. He tries not to be angry with him, but he had thought the Vulcan was trying to be more human ever since their discussion after the reassignment, so it is somewhat disappointing to hear him like this.

Kirk takes his beer to a table and sits there, waiting for Bones and Spock to join him. It doesn't take long for the doctor to grab his own drink and sit next to him. Spock, however, stands for a moment, seemingly unsure of what to do, then shrugs and joins the other two.

"We're going to have to find something to do with ourselves for the next couple of weeks," Kirk says.

"Hopefully we picked an entertaining planet," Bones grumbles. "Jim, they're not keeping us here the entire time they're buildin' the _Enterprise, _are they?"

"Well, they're not really _keeping _us anywhere. But no, I assume they'll find something for us to do before long. The… the _Enterprise _will take at least several months to construct. They'll find a job for at least one of us during that time." He stares at his drink, wondering how long he can possibly go without being aboard a starship.

"It probably would go faster if they'd let Scotty help them."

"True. No one knows an _Enterprise _like Scotty." Jim finds himself glancing at Spock, trying to read his expression, since he's paying no attention to their conversation. But he's is staring somewhat vacantly across the room, in a train of thought Kirk can't identify.

"So Spock," Bones says, pulling the Vulcan back away from his own mind. "What do Vulcans do on shore leave? Somehow I can't quite see them hanging around bars watching for women, or… say, camping."

Kirk smiles, failing to imagine Spock anywhere near a tent.

"Vulcans do not take shore leave. Under normal circumstances, I would not be here. I would merely look after the ship until the captain returned. Even under these circumstances, I could find some task requiring completion and accept it as my duty until the starship has been built. However, I denied that option for… the sake of you two."

McCoy's expression registers surprise at first, but then he looks toward the ceiling for a long moment, seemingly unaware of Spock's last sentence. "Well, that's great, Spock. That's great." He looks at Kirk with raised eyebrows and a confused expression, perhaps wondering how Spock can be so emotionless and subtly emotional at the same time. Jim gives him a slight shrug.

_Spock __*_

"What is she doing here?" the doctor says suddenly, looking across the bar.

Both Spock and the captain follow his gaze to see Christine Chapel in the restaurant section of building, looking around as though wanting to see someone.

"She's probably looking for you for some reason," Kirk says.

The doctor sighs and says, "Give me a moment." He stands up, leaving his drink and going over to her.

So Spock and Kirk are left alone. Spock is detecting that the captain is frustrated with him, though he doesn't know why.

"Spock, what was with that out there?"

The Vulcan looks at him, confused at first. "With what, Captain?"

"Do you deny being my friend now?"

Spock suddenly realizes what Jim's problem is. "Captain, I do not—"

"I have a name," he says with irritation.

This, in turn, irritates Spock, since he only calls him 'Captain' out of habit. "I do not deny that you are my friend. I merely do no appreciate the admittance of that in front of someone whom I have no relations to."

Kirk clenches his jaw. "What, now you have to _admit _that I'm your friend? Like it's some sort of shame?"

Spock looks at the table. He familiarizes himself with the smooth gray surface, refusing to look at the man across from him as he says, "It is not a shame. I just…. It—"

"Spock," Kirk says, his voice losing its heat, "you make this too hard on yourself. You're always pushing yourself too far toward being Vulcan. Why can't you be more human?"

He somehow finds this insulting. "You fail to consider that perhaps I don't want to be more human, Jim. Not everyone finds it as desirable as you do."

Kirk frowns and traces patterns in the condensation on his glass. "I…had always assumed that, because… because of your mother, you were—"

"Jim, no."

He looks up in surprise at Spock's sharp tone. "Sorry?"

Spock looks away from Kirk's eyes, unsure of why this has to be such an infuriating moment for him. "I would rather you didn't speak of her. I… I am unsure of why that wasn't obvious immediately."

There's a moment of silence, until Jim says, with subtle anger, "I didn't know it would be such a problem when you're talking to me. I don't mean to insult you, Spock."

Regardless of the last line, or perhaps because of it, a flare of anger rises from his chest. "You don't understand, Jim!" he erupts. "It does not matter who is speaking of her! It is… it is a wound that will forever be open," he says, his voice quieting, "and all you're doing is using the salt."

"Spock. Your hidden emotions are making this worse," Jim says, as though just realizing it. "If you would just let this go, for a moment—"

"Captain," Spock snaps, "I do not choose when I let my emotions show. Every time they come for me, I choose to hide them. It is only when I am infuriated, such as the state you have put me in now, that I cannot hold it in." He realizes, in a rush, that his last few actions have been illogical, irrational, and utterly too human. He tries to take a deep breath and calm down, but everything Kirk has ever done to aggravate him is suddenly coming back to him and he can't quench the emotion.

"I can't believe you won't even talk to me about this," Kirk says bitterly. "I thought I was your friend, and that meant you could actually talk to me, but apparently I'm only your 'Captain.'" The last word is hurled at Spock with vehemence as Kirk shoves his chair away from the table and stands up. He starts to leave when Spock, enraged by the captain's behavior, swiftly rises and grabs his arm.

"Stop acting like a child, Jim. You—"

"God damn it, then stop acting like a computer. The only emotion I swear I _ever _see out of you is anger."

"Then maybe that's why you cannot be my friend."

A silence falls over them. Some of the people around them have hushed as well, watching to see the outcome of this.

"What the hell is goin' on here?" McCoy says, coming to stand near the two of them. He's probably glaring at them, but Spock is too focused on Kirk to notice.

"Damn you, Spock," Jim says, his voice breaking on the swearword. Almost at the same time, he impulsively swings a punch that hits the Vulcan on the jaw. Despite the fact that Spock saw it coming, he lets Kirk vent his anger. His head snaps to the right and his vision blurs, but he keeps himself there, staring furiously and repentantly at Kirk's chair.

It's only when he hears the captain leave and conversation slowly start to continue around him that he pulls his gaze away and reaches up to his face, which is now throbbing.

Dr. McCoy is still standing there, glancing between Spock and the door. "What the hell did you do?" he says, glowering and not expecting an answer. He looks at Spock for a moment longer before turning and marching out of the bar.

Spock, forcing himself to be expressionless, stands there alone.

_McCoy __*_

"Jim," McCoy says as he jogs after the captain, who's walking briskly back toward their hotel.

"Leave me alone, Bones. I'm not in a talkative mood," he says, his voice tight.

"You did a pretty good job talking to Spock back there."

Jim stops and turns to Bones suddenly. "Why is he being an asshole?"

"Jim, I don' even know what's going on! How the hell am I supposed to tell you?"

Kirk exhales in an exasperated sigh, turning around and walking away from Bones. "I'm sick of his being a Vulcan."

McCoy almost has a temptation to say 'Aren't we all?' but another side of him begins to be defensive of Spock. "What is it now?"

"Did you hear him?"

"What, saying you can't be his friend?"

Jim snorts, but there's more than that behind his expression. "Exactly. I mean, what was that?"

Bones sighs. "I don't know. How did the whole argument start, anyway?"

"I was irritated because of what he said at the gate, and I asked if he denied being my friend now. He said he didn't, but then when I was trying to tell him he should be more human, he said that wasn't 'desirable.' It was when I mentioned his mother that I tipped him over the edge."

"Well, you can relate to that, can't you?"

"I suppose, but there's no reason he should get insulted when I talk about her. It's not like I'll ever say anything offensive to him. At least regarding that."

McCoy looks back over his shoulder, almost expecting to see Spock. He doesn't of course, and the dim streets are only full of humans and Telanisians. "Maybe that wasn't the point. Maybe it was just that hearing about her hurt him too much, since he was already in an emotional state…. Damn it, why am I defending the Vulcan?"

Kirk looks him up and down for a moment, with an almost offended or disgusted expression. "I don't know."

They're already at the hotel by now, and the silver doors open automatically for them. Bones wonders why Jim's headed back to this place before the sun has even set.

"What are you going to do in there, Jim?"

"I don't know."

"Well, have fun doing it," Bones says sarcastically.

Jim turns to him, his expression one of curiosity. "Why are you suddenly in a bad mood? Is it because I'm angry at Spock?"

"Oh, hell, Jim, _I _don't know."

Kirk half-smiles. "You're feeling slightly protective, aren't you?"

Bones frowns. "Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't—"

"You're right," he says, his voice regaining its bitterness. "You're not foolish enough to be protective of him. This is his damn fault."

McCoy resists the temptation to sigh.

"Bones, he's…." Jim shakes his head and looks at the carpet. "Never mind. I'm just aggravated with him right now. It'll go away."

_Kirk __*_

Two days later and Jim is still completely unsure of what to do about Spock. He's considered trying to talk to him a few times, but every time he starts to head toward the Vulcan, Spock just gives him a subtle, dark look and leaves. It's angering Kirk more and more, and he's too proud to admit anything to anyone else, except occasionally Bones.

He decided, after two boring days of having nothing to do, to go visit Scotty while the engineer is working on his project.

As soon as Mr. Scott heard Starfleet was going to build the USS _Enterprise Alpha_, he tried to join the group constructing it, but they turned him down. They claimed it was partly because Mr. Scott should take shore leave and stop worrying about one _Enterprise _or another. At least, that's the story Kirk had heard from him.

So, being stubborn, Scotty joined a team of _different _engineers working on a project to design and build a new type of spacecraft for Starfleet.

"Captain!" Scotty exclaims jovially.

"I'm not 'captain' right now, Scotty," he reminds him. "Just 'Jim'. You could even call me James if that suits your liking better."

Mr. Scott smiles. "You're right. But anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Coming to see how things are with you, of course. And?"

His smile turns into a beam of utter pride. "It's going wonderfully." He ushers Kirk through a building and out the back, into a huge yard filled with pieces of transparent aluminum, metal, glass, wires, tools, and things Jim can't even identify. In the middle of the surprisingly organized mess, where the concentration of people is, there sits a spaceship. It looks large in the yard, but Kirk can tell it isn't big, probably only thirty meters long or so. It has a different build than most Starfleet ships, slightly resembling the first warp-drive ship the _Phoenix,_ just more elegantly assembled.

It seems the craft doesn't have a name yet, and is still in an early stage of development. The frame is still mostly strips of supporting metal and there are some large contraptions inside it, with neatly organized wires and sheets of transparent aluminum. The computer chips are too small to see from this distance, of course, but Jim has no doubt there are many of them.

"Scotty… This is brilliant. You… I don't know what to say."

"We've worked very hard on this beauty. It'll still take a lot of time to complete, test, and adjust, but everything should work out perfectly. We've got the deuterium fuel tank ready—well, mostly ready—the sensor arrays designed, the amplified warp core planned, the—"

"Scotty," Jim says through a laugh, "you've only had three days to work on this and your team only consists of sixteen people. How have you done all this?"

"Well," Scott says, finally slowing down, "they had most of it designed before I got here. Besides, Cap—Jim, you forget I was here a day before you were."

Kirk shakes his head. "So it's going to be fast, isn't it?"

"That's the goal. If all goes well, it'll be the fastest ship in the galaxy." He pauses. "Well, fastest Federation ship. We should be able to test it in another week or so. But it's goin' to take enough magnatomic energy to make those nacelles as powerful as nuclear weapons. As dangerous too."

He raises his eyebrows. "That sounds less than pleasant."

Scotty waves him off. "It'll be fine. This team has engineers who've built starships before. This is fairly easy."

"If you say so," Kirk says, still admiring the framework of the ship.

_McCoy __*_

"You should see it, Bones."

"You know I'm less fond of starships than you are."

Jim smiles. "That's true. But this isn't a starship. It's a…. Some other kind of ship."

Bones snorts. "You sound real experienced, don't you, Jim?"

"I can afford it. I'm on shore leave."

The two men are wandering out of the city, walking with no destination. The landscape around them reminds Bones slightly of Earth, except the colors are wrong. Most of the trees are bright yellow or even a vibrant orange with green-tinted bark, while the dirt is gray.

"So, uh," McCoy starts, unsure if he should try to talk about this while Jim's in such a good mood, "have you talked to Spock at all?"

He actually already knows the answer to this, but he feels it's the best way to try to bring it up.

"You know I haven't. I don't plan to at this point either."

Bones frowns. "So how are you two going working things out? You know this can't last forever."

"I don't know, Bones. This is his problem, not mine."

"It isn't if it's affecting your life too."

His blunt and utterly true statement stops Jim as he's walking. "I don't know. He's the one that said I can't be his friend. So he'll be the one to apologize."

McCoy sighs at the captain's stubborn pride. "If you recounted that conversation correctly, you did say somethin' about how you _thought _you were his friend, but evidently you were just his 'captain'. And you did say his only emotion was anger."

"Bones. Why are you defending him? I'm not trying to be rude, I actually want to know."

"_I _don't know. I can't help it."

"And anyway," Jim continues, his voice taking on the bitterness that has been reoccurring every time Bones mentions the argument, "previously, calling him a computer has been a compliment."

"Not when you mention his mother."

"Damn it, Bones, what is wrong with you?"

"Now are you trying to be rude?"

Jim makes a frustrated noise and turns away. He starts walking again. Bones waits for a moment before hurrying to catch up with him.

"Evidently he's not terribly interested in being my friend," Kirk points out as he walks along a trail into a thin forest, his pace faster than it was a moment ago.

"Well, he did make it seem that way," Bones says, remembering hearing the Vulcan's final words to Jim. He starts to say more, but catches himself.

_Why are you defending the Vulcan? _He asks himself. _It's completely unlike you, Leonard._

Jim sighs, one of the only signs Bones has gotten out of him to suggest that he's unhappy. "Spock's been all—I don't know, uncertain of himself—ever since that Romulan woman tried to pull as much emotion out of him as she could. I think maybe it's been leading up to this. Plus before that, there was the fact that he—" he seems to be unable to say the word, but Bones knows what it is: died.

It's surprising for McCoy to realize the ordeals Spock has been through. They kind of come and go for him, so he doesn't consider that they may have long-lasting effects.

"You might want to give 'im a break," Bones suggests.

Jim hesitates, then says, "I'm still waiting for him to approach me first. Which," he says with another sigh, "he hasn't done a good job of yet."

_Uhura __*_

By the time the fourth day of their shore leave has come and gone, Uhura is wondering how she's going to keep herself entertained. Yes, she's met some interesting people and seen interesting occurrences that happen only on the planet Telanix, but she's used to being busy almost constantly, watching problems be thrown at Captain Kirk left and right.

But it seems there _is_ a problem. She's detected it, even though she hasn't asked anything about it. She noticed it the very second day they were here and it has been continuing ever since.

The problem is that Spock and the captain aren't speaking to each other. It seemed they were avoiding each other at first, but that grew old or something and now they just make as little conversation with each other as possible. Nyota can't fathom what it is that caused their change of attitude, but it's starting to make her uncomfortable.

Finally, preferring to talk to Kirk than to Spock, she decides to go to find him, and the first place she checks is a bar.

It's late afternoon, the precise time she would manage to find the captain in such a place. She actually pauses in the entrance to the restaurant, wondering if maybe she should turn back and wait to catch Kirk when he's more likely to be sober, but then continues anyway.

Before entering the section of the building separated for the bar, she stops at the half-wall so she can scan for the cap—_Jim, _she tells herself. _You need to start thinking of him by his first name, or even his last. But not Captain._

She doesn't see anyone she recognizes. Some humans, a few Telanisians, a human, a Vulcan, an alien she can't identify….

_A Vulcan?_

She does a double-take and sees Spock, sitting in the corner of the bar, his elbows on the table and his hands clasped with his index fingers rested against his forehead. His eyes are closed, as though he's trying to rest. If so, he picked a hell of a place to be.

Nyota considers just leaving, since Kirk isn't here, but she can't help but be curious about Spock. With a sort of 'what the hell' frame of mind, she steps down into the bar and walks over to him.

"Mister Spock?"

His eyes open before he breaks his position and looks up to her. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

She smiles slightly. "Not 'Lieutenant' here. You can call me Nyota, you know. What are you doing here, Mister Spock? I didn't think Vulcans were much for bars."

"They are most definitely not," he says, looking disapprovingly at his surroundings. "I was…. I was looking for somewhere distracting." His tone doesn't display any emotion, as usual, but Uhura questions what he means.

"You must not be solving arithmetic equations then," she says teasingly. "Can I sit here?"

"You are certainly capable. But yes, you may."

As she sits, she starts to feel that amused annoyance that crops up whenever she's around Spock. He seems to like being particularly technical whenever Kirk isn't around.

Kirk.

That thought brings her back to why she came here in the first place.

"Shore leave has been… interesting so far. Actually, by interesting I mean unentertaining. How about for you?"

"It has been," he stiffens as he continues, "uneventful."

Nyota cocks her head. Even Spock, with all his excellence at hiding things, cannot hide that that comment was a lie. "I thought Vulcans couldn't lie."

Spock sits back away from the table, not leaning over it like Uhura is, and looks across the room for no apparent reason. "It is less that they can't and more that they don't. I suppose it is a sign that I am not capable of being truly Vulcan that I find it somewhat simple."

There's a pause in the conversation while Uhura wonders what to say next. As she watches Spock, who's refusing to look at her, she tries as hard as she can to read his expression, something she's usually avoided before because it feels like an intrusion of his privacy.

"I can tell what you're thinking."

The Vulcan looks over at her sharply, surprised and seemingly… afraid of the prospect. "You can?"

"Only slightly," she admits. "But I know that you and the captain must have had an argument and now you're unhappy."

He tries to shy away from the subject by saying quietly, "I am, at least, half Vulcan. Vulcans do not feel unhappy."

"Spock, stop lying to yourself," she says firmly. "You're not doing anyone a favor."

His gaze now is directed at the table. Nyota doesn't like making him uncomfortable, but she would also hate to leave this conversation, considering where it's going right now.

"What happened?"

"I'm not particularly good at speaking of my mind and feelings. You have probably noticed that."

Uhura smiles slightly. "I have noticed. But you don't have to confide that much. I would just like an explanation of why you and the capt—Kirk aren't speaking to each other. It's very unusual for you two."

"It was a failure of communication," he says, his voice hinting at frustration. "It was my fault. I—He was… It was because…." He shakes his head and mutters a quiet swearword. "I insulted him somehow by interrupting him when he was in the middle of trying to introduce me as his friend…. I corrected him by saying I was his first officer, which I only later realized suggested that I denied what he said."

"So he thought you were trying to say you aren't his friend, what, because you're a Vulcan?"

"I assume so. I only made it worse by saying I had to 'admit' that he was my friend," he adds.

"Spock," Uhura says, shaking her head, "your choice of words is terrible."

"I realize that," he replies somewhat dryly. "But then he…" Spock's eyes glaze over with the expression of a painful memory. "He brought up the subject of my mother."

Nyota frowns. "Why?"

"Suggesting that I should be more human," he says simply.

"Was it that bad?" she asks. "He didn't want to insult you, I'm sure."

He looks at her for a moment with a small, almost curious smile. She's about to ask why he's smiling when the expression fades and he says, "That's beside the point. I can't stand hearing about her." He pauses. "Maybe it is better said that I'm more comfortable leaving that event only to my mind. Jim failed to understand that."

Despite her attempts not to, Nyota considers who she would side with. It's clear whatever offensive things Spock said to Kirk he didn't really mean and Kirk did bring up some hard subjects, but Spock failed to say anything to Kirk that _wouldn't _offend him. As much as Nyota can tell anyway. And yet, as she works this through her mind, she can't entirely believe that what she has heard is all of it.

"What else did you say, Spock?" she asks quietly. "Or what else did the captain say?"

The Vulcan's gaze returns to the place across the bar. Uhura's almost tempted to look to see what he's staring at, but she knows there's nothing of interest there.

When Spock speaks at last, his voice is matter-of-fact. "I told Jim to stop behaving like a child. He retorted by saying I should stop acting like a computer," his eyebrow raises slightly, "and the only emotion he ever noticed from me was anger."

He stops, but Nyota can tell that wasn't all of it. "And then…?" she prompts lightly.

"I said that was why he could not be my friend."

She's somewhat taken aback, although it wasn't a lot worse than she expected. "Why ever—"

"I am more than anger, Nyota," he says, his voice dropping in volume as he looks back to her. "But is that all that is ever obvious?"

She takes a moment to consider this. She's seen Spock in various situations, a lot of them not terribly pleasant, and commonly, when he shows emotion, it is anger.

But unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately—she's not sure how to think of it—there is another. Her mind recalls it as she thinks of Spock dying in the arms of Captain Kirk.

The other emotion is fear.

"No," she finally decides to reply. "And Kirk knows that."

"Then why," he says, his voice touching both curiosity, and, ironically, anger, "did he say that?"

Uhura can't help but smile as she says, "Because humans are illogical creatures."

She almost catches a hint of amusement in him, but he extinguishes it quickly before saying, "I must admit I sometimes find myself utterly incapable of understanding them."

"Is that why you sometimes misunderstand yourself?" The words have slipped from her mouth before she considers them. She hopes he doesn't take them as insulting.

"I do not believe I have ever said I do," he says, seeming surprised.

"I don't know…why I…said that," she says, now feeling a bit awkward. "But I'm just considering that you might."

"You have an interesting way of considering things," he says, delivering the compliment as though it were a mere fact.

"I think you should try to talk to the captain," she says suddenly, mentioning it before they get distracted.

Spock sighs as his mind clearly returns to his argument with Kirk. "I do not expect he will approach me. He's far too proud for that."

"Exactly. I think if you just go talk to him, you two will be able to work something out."

"If he decides to be reasonable," he says, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice.

"If you can convey your points well enough."

He looks at her with a faintly annoyed expression that suggests he knows she's right. "Humans are difficult."

"James Kirk is difficult," she corrects.

"You make an excellent point."

_Sulu __*_

The crew has been on shore for almost a week before Chekov finds the museum. As soon as he hears that it includes Russian information and even artifacts, he insists that he and Sulu go there.

Sulu can't really argue. He hasn't been particularly well-entertained since he got here, so the idea of going anywhere is appealing.

"Museum of Earth History," Chekov reads from the front of the building. "Why do you think it's in English?"

Hikaru smiles, amused. "Probably because that's the most widely used language on Earth."

Chekov frowns, but says nothing.

They enter the front door, not needing to pay to get in.

They find the first exhibits are about America. It's somewhat unsurprising, since America was a world power for many decades, but it still takes him and Chekov several minutes of wandering around to find a contribution to Japan, and shortly after, Russia.

"They have more on Russia than Europe," Sulu comments in surprise, thinking also that they have more than Japan.

Pavel, of course, is immensely pleased. "Russia is one of the greatest countries in Earth history. It's not surprising."

"Of course," he says dully. Chekov reads through all the things about Russia, only to say afterward that he knew everything there.

"Well, Pavel," Sulu protests, "this isn't Earth. You can't expect them to have a lot of detail."

"That's true. I'm still disappointed."

Sulu marvels at Chekov's ability to almost say 'steel' instead of 'still'.

There's a distant sound, almost like an explosion, and some of the glass on the Russian displays shakes.

"Did you hear that?" Sulu asks needlessly.

"Of course," Chekov says distractedly. "What was it?"

"I know as much as you do."

They exit the museum and step into the bright, overcast daylight outside. For the first time, the rings around the planet aren't visible, but that's not what draws their attention. Miles away, to what Sulu estimates to be the east, there's a bright spot in the sky, heading straight upward into the sky. It's leaving a trail of coughing blue smoke behind it, like a comet or an old rocket…

"I have a feeling we should find out what that is and tell the captain," Pavel says, staring at the thing.

"Definitely," Sulu agrees.

With a glance at each other, the two men start sprinting back the way they came.

_Kirk __*_

Jim lies in his hotel room, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the _Enterprise. _He's kept himself moderately entertained in the last few days of shore leave, but now he's seen most of the interests within a walking distance and he's bored. He really wants the _Enterprise _back. He belongs on a starship; he's hardly felt at home anywhere else. And yet no starship is as satisfying as the USS _Enterprise. _He hopes the second _Enterprise _is as similar to the first as possible. Otherwise, he considers, what's the point of calling it the _Enterprise_?

Kirk's door buzzes quietly. He looks up to it with apathy, thinking of how, according a person who had stayed in this hotel before, the buzzer sometimes goes off even if someone is just walking down the hall, not actually standing at the door.

Regardless, considering that it could be Bones, he goes to the door and presses the button to open it.

"Spock?"

"I came to talk to you about that evening in the bar." The Vulcan's tone reveals nothing, which annoys Kirk.

"It's taken you a while." He steps aside so Spock can come in the room.

"I see no point in stalling here excessively, so I'll try to make this concise. I believe it was a misunderstanding when we got angry with each other. Miscommunication, perhaps. I failed to make my point without masking it in unnecessary emotion, and you failed to try to understand me."

Kirk sits back on his bed, propping his feet up on the nightstand and watching Spock with raised eyebrows. "You say 'unnecessary emotion'. I guess that means you still have no interest in being human?"

"I am fully aware that I _am _human, to some degree, and therefore shall never be able to be Vulcan."

"But you still don't find it desirable?"

"I do," he says, his tone sharp. But he lessens the anger that must have risen and when he speaks again, it's more emotionlessly. "Sometimes. However, I've been less certain which side to take ever since our discussion on Starbase 6. I chose to retain my reputation as a Vulcan here only because I am unfamiliar with the planet. It was not an insult directed at you."

"What about when you said I couldn't be your friend?" Kirk says, sweeping his feet off the nightstand and standing up. "How are you going to take that back, Spock? Hell if you try to tell me _that _was miscommunication." He knows he should back off, because he doesn't want to have to argue with Spock again, but he's too angry and bitter to do so.

"You did accuse me of only ever showing anger, James," he retorts, using Kirk's first name as though it were an insult. "And, for that matter, claimed I was acting like a computer. That comment was illogical," he adds as though wanting to irritate Kirk, which he succeeds at. "I was acting quite irrational. Regardless, I did not much want to call you my friend after you said that."

Jim's jaw clenches and he considers the best retort to make. "So you're not going to take it back, are you, you bastard? Then why are you here?"

Spock is mostly expressionless, but Kirk can tell he's gotten him internally worked up. "I intended to apologize to you. But as I should have expected, you're not making that very simple."

"Well, if you had—"

The door buzzes. Kirk wants to ignore it, or yell at whoever's there to go away, but instead he narrows his eyes at Spock and goes to answer it.

He smacks the button to open the door.

"Captain!" says the only person Kirk knows who can make 'captain' sound like 'keptin'.

"Yes, Chekov?" he says, simultaneously relieved and aggravated that he and Spock were interrupted.

"There's something we think you should see." It's only after he says this that Jim notices Mr. Sulu standing behind Chekov. The latter pushes past the captain and Spock, going to the closed window across Kirk's room.

Somewhat annoyed that Pavel is barging into his room, he says, "What is it, you two?"

"That," Chekov states as he presses the button that opens the view out the window, making two doors, somewhat like turbolift doors, slide to either side of it.

Kirk doesn't see anything at first, but as he walks over to the window, he sees what Chekov is worked up about. It's a glowing dot, like a rocket, heading up into the sky, a mile or two away from the hotel, in the direction Kirk knows to be where Scotty is…

"Damn. They're not ready for that…."

"Do you know what that is?" Chekov asks, confused.

"I have suspicion. I'm hoping I'm not correct." Without another word, Kirk rushes out of the room and makes a beeline for the stairs.

_Spock __*_

Mr. Chekov, Mr. Sulu, and Mister Spock all follow Kirk outside, although they don't match the captain's pace. Dr. McCoy is standing by the hotel doors, looking confused, as Kirk heads off toward the city gates.

"What's gotten him so worked up?" the doctor asks. "Why's he lookin' for Scotty?"

Mr. Sulu answers. "I think… he thinks something is wrong with Mr. Scott's ship. It wasn't supposed to be tested until next week. They can't have stabilized the whole thing by now, which means it shouldn't be in the air yet."

"What's that mean, then?"

"It means the craft is potentially dangerous," Spock answers. "It could hypothetically explode in the atmosphere or, if it runs out of fuel before then, it would blow up when it hits the ground, acting much like explosive weaponry. That is, if I can make a correct theory about it."

"What's Jim going to do then?"

"Doctor," Spock says, finally turning to look at him, "it is not the best time for illogical questions. We might as well find out for ourselves."

He starts toward where he can see their spacecraft, landed right outside the city gates. But the captain has already gotten it powered up, and it takes off before Spock is even halfway there, flying directly above the small group and turning in the direction of the runaway ship.

Spock is immediately concerned. Were it anyone else, he would trust that they were only going to find Mr. Scott, but it's Kirk. And he's never certain when the captain is going to do something dangerous.

"I suggest we find a different method of getting there ourselves," he says somewhat unhelpfully to the other three, and now Lieutenant Uhura, who's jogging up to them.

"What happened?" she asks. "Where's the captain going?"

"As far as we know," McCoy answers, "to find Scotty."

Spock hopes he's actually doing so.

_Kirk __*_

"Scotty!" Kirk says, exiting the spacecraft before the ramp is even down.

"Captain! We have a problem," Scott says, coming up to Kirk through the dust that's swirling in the air.

Jim had gathered that. Before he landed, he could see from above that the ship the engineers had been working on so hard was gone. There was dust and bluish smoke in the air, and the people were seemingly panicked.

"What happened?"

"One of the younger engineers, a student, I believe, accidentally set somethin' off inside the ship. We had it facing upward, like the last time you came here, and it just shot straight into the air. It has both warp engines and half of its fuel, but we hadn't relayed any controls to the operation panel. We have no way to command it."

"So what's going to happen?" Kirk demands, glancing around at the people in the dusty yard. Some of them are staring into the sky, trying to see the lost spaceship; others are looking frantically around for a way to stop it, while one young woman is sobbing quietly.

"It's going to run out of fuel before long, but it'll still have enough energy captured in its nacelles that once it hits the ground…" He makes a weak gesture to suggest something blowing up. "It'll probably level anythin' within a one hundred mile radius."

"And destroy the entire city," Jim says slowly, absentmindedly, as he stares at the sky. He can't see the ship anymore, since it's gone through the clouds, but with the speed it was going it can't be far from the atmosphere.

"Scotty. Does this ship have a tractor beam?" he asks, gesturing toward his small craft.

"I think so, sir. Do you intend to capture our ship with it?"

"I could probably lock onto it, yes."

"The pressure on those unbalanced nacelles will probably blow them up," he says, frowning distrustfully at Jim. "It'd be better if it goes off up there than down here, but it could kill you, Captain."

Kirk looks straight into Scotty's eyes as he says, "That's better than my crew dying. Or the thousands of innocent people in that city."

He turns back to the small shuttlecraft and has started up the ramp when Mr. Scott says, "Can I go with you, Captain?"

Jim turns back. "If I were going straight to use that tractor beam, I would say no. But I have to go talk to the crew first, so you can come."

_Spock __*_

To Spock's relief, the ship that Kirk left in returns after only about ten minutes. The escaped craft Mr. Scott had been working on has long disappeared into the clouds, but if Spock can calculate correctly—which he always can—it will reach the atmosphere within moments. Once it's there, it will either lose power and fall, explode under the heat and pressure, or blast straight out into space.

"Captain," Spock says, striding up to the craft, the _Graynet, _as Kirk descends the ramp, "do not do that again."

Jim looks at him, confused for a moment. "What—why?" He shakes his head. "Never mind, we don't have time." He brushes past Spock to approach the others.

"What's the plan, Jim?" Dr. McCoy asks.

"I'd like to say you could get out of here in time. But try as you might, there's no way to move one hundred miles away in only a few minutes. Not down here, anyway. So Bones, Spock, Uhura, you three are going to find the closest things to bunkers or basements they have here. Try to get as many people into them as possible. That way if I fail, they still all have a chance. Chekov, Sulu, find out if this city has a shield system. If it does, make sure they activate it. Scotty, you're going to stay here with a communicator so you can tell me anything I need to know about that ship of yours."

"What are you going to do?" Spock demands quietly, stepping up next to Kirk.

He looks at him for a long moment, and says, "I'm going to get that ship with a tractor beam. I'll try to toss it somewhere where it won't kill anything, or, if I have to… hold it in place until it explodes up there."

"You could get yourself killed."

"I know. I'm willing to risk that for them," he says, nodding toward the bridge crew.

Something twists in Spock's gut as he notices 'them' would exclude him, but he dismisses it as unimportant and an illogical thing to consider at the moment.

"Don't."

"What, you want me to let this entire city be destroyed? How is that logical, Vulcan?" There's heat in Jim's voice, and it makes Spock angry and sad at the same time.

"Allow me to go instead."

This seems to startle him. "But—you…." His expression softens. "Spock, no. I refuse. I lost you once, and I'm not willing to lose you again. I would… I would rather lose myself," he says with a forced smile. "Stay with Bones and—"

"Please, Captain, let—"

"No," he says more firmly. "That's an order, whether or not we're on shore leave." He gives Spock a pat on the shoulder and turns back to the _Graynet._

"Jim." It's Dr. McCoy this time.

"I'm not going to argue with you too, Bones," Kirk says without turning around.

"Damn you," the doctor curses, stopping. He sighs and says, "Good luck, Jim."

The captain finally turns around, tossing a communicator to Mr. Scott, though paying no attention to the action. He hits the button for the ramp to close as he says, "Thank you, Bones. I hope I won't need it."

_Scott __*_

"Commander," Lt. Uhura says suddenly. Scotty turns, knowing she's addressing Mister Spock, but nevertheless in the habit of answering. "Is that it?"

The Vulcan follows where she's pointing with his gaze, and Mr. Scott does as well. It does indeed appear to his spaceship. High above them, off to the east, is a tiny dot that must be it. It's falling, probably fast, though he can't tell from this distance. He can hardly make it out, but merely because he can suggests it's close.

"That must be it," Scotty answers for Spock.

The _Graynet_ has clearly locked onto the object, because it's whipping toward it with speed that probably isn't safe this close to a planet.

"We need to hurry then," Spock states. "I see no need to reiterate the captain's orders. Lieutenant Uhura, Dr. McCoy, you are with me. The rest of you know what to do."

Scotty nods and flips open his communicator. He waits for a signal to come in while Uhura, McCoy, and Spock spread out and Mr. Chekov and Mr. Sulu head off down the street, seemingly knowing where they're going.

"Kirk to Scotty."

"Scott here, sir," he answers immediately, glancing up toward the racing _Graynet._

"If I catch this thing with a tractor beam, how long until that force makes it explode?"

Scott considers for a moment. "Probably under a minute."

Something quiet and indecipherable comes through the communicator, probably a foul word. "Alright. Does this thing… aha."

Scotty raises an eyebrow. "Does that thing what?"

"I need to scan for life forms. See if I can find a place to put the ship where it won't kill anyone. I'm sorry this had to happen, Scotty. I know how hard you and—"

"Just leave it, Captain," Mr. Scott says, trying not to think of all that's going to waste in the destruction of the team's craft.

There's no reply on the other end, which means Kirk is probably nodding.

"It must be only about eight thousand feet up now, Captain," Scotty warns. "How close are you?"

"Not as close as I'd like to be and simultaneously too close" is the captain's aggravating answer.

_Kirk__ *_

The life form scan brings depressing results. There's nowhere close enough to him that he can reach in time. Terrible as this is, Kirk would even take a large lake right now and blow it up, anything that could quench some of the explosion's power.

It isn't much worse than he expected, but it still means he's going to have to go to Plan B. He didn't really tell anyone about Plan B, but at least it's better than his Plan C.

"In range for tractor beam," he reports to Mr. Scott. He turns acceleration and altitude powering to zero, dropping his ship into free fall next to the unnamed craft. If it weren't for the visual, which whips by sickeningly quickly, he wouldn't even know he's falling.

The ground grows larger, and he can see the city, which his mind is ever-presently telling him could be leveled in only a few moments if this doesn't work.

Then he activates the tractor beam and turns the impulse engines back on. Scott's ship and the _Graynet _are brought to a sudden halt.

"I have it," he says hurriedly to Scotty. In the back of his mind, he's thinking he's not ready for this… if the whole thing goes wrong….

But he has no time now. Doing something impulsive, dangerous, and necessary to Plan B, he turns on he warp engines and sets them to send him straight up. Though he can't see them, he knows they're turning to be perpendicular with the body of the ship, a feature of the _Graynet _he finds impressive.

Then he sets them to the absolute minimum power. The ship shoots upward so fast he's thrown to the ground. Panic floods him as he realizes that just in the second of being separated from the controls, he's probably gone too close to the next layer of the atmosphere. That would cause the nacelles to explode early….

Jim retracts the beam, leaving Scotty's ship on its own while he reverses the impulse engines. The _Graynet _pulls back, away from the explosives and down toward the clouds.

He's too late. There's a huge explosion that breaks out in the pale blue sky, directly in front of Jim's small shuttlecraft. It registers so brightly on the visual Kirk's vision goes completely white, then black, and doesn't clear. The simulated gravity flickers off and he's thrown against the ceiling as the _Graynet _goes into free fall.

_McCoy __*_

Spock and Uhura are still off getting people into basements, but Bones has done as much as he can and now is headed back to Scotty to see how Jim is doing.

"Scotty?"

The engineer looks panicked, adjusting frequencies on the communicator and repeatedly saying, "Captain? Come in, Captain!"

McCoy rushes over. "What happened?" he demands, his insides twisting with concern.

"I lost the signal," Scott says without looking up. "He had just said he had the ship with the tractor beam, but then I heard a loud noise come through and—"

Bones interrupts the flustered engineer, "There."

Scotty looks up at the sky. To their horror, there's a burning ship falling down out of the clouds, and it's not the unnamed speed ship.

It's the one Jim Kirk is in.

McCoy utters the worst swearword he knows. "Spock!" he calls, knowing the Vulcan is only down the road behind him. "Spock, get over here!"

It takes Spock an agonizing moment to get to them as the blackened spacecraft continues to plummet toward the ground.

"Yes, Doct—" He cuts himself off as he notices what they're looking at. "That is not—"

"Yes it is. What do we do?"

"There is not a transporter in this city," Spock says quickly. "We do not have access to another ship and there is nothing…." He trails off. "We have one minute and thirty-five seconds until that ship hits the ground. I have an idea. Doctor, stay here."

The Vulcan takes off running toward one of the nearest buildings.

"What the he—" he doesn't bother finishing as he looks back to the falling ship. _Get control of it, Jim…_

"What's he doin'?" Scotty asks incredulously, watching where Spock has disappeared into a small building. "He can't just leave Jim…."

"He's not," Bones snaps. "He's got a plan; he always has a plan." He really, really hopes he's not just saying that to hush Scotty.

McCoy finds his whole body tight in anticipation and anxiety as he cranes his neck to watch Jim's ship fall. If they can't do anything, if Spock's plan, whatever it is, fails…. Bones cuts the thought off before he finishes it. He's not ready for that thought. He never will be.

The ship is sickeningly close now, probably only a couple thousand feet up.

Suddenly, a strange, low-pitched noise, like a gong but resonating from all around him, bursts into the air. Out of reflex, he covers his ears, but it fades within only a few seconds. He looks around, trying to find the source of the noise, but can't. He glances back up at the _Graynet. _Oddly, the ship has decelerated considerably, and is moving down through the air as though in slow motion. Then, when the ship is only a few hundred feet above ground level, the force slowing it down disappears, and it falls, crash-landing outside the city. It makes a terrible crunching noise, and a small explosion goes off afterwards.

McCoy is there within less than a minute. He'd grabbed some medical supplies after ushering civilians into a basement, expecting he would need them when Jim's ship landed.

The _Graynet _is pouring smoke. Clearly something on it had caught fire from the explosion above the clouds, and the whole back end of the craft is in ruins. The fiery burst that had gone off once the ship landed has caught some dry material on the ground in flame, which crackles menacingly as Bones yanks open the ramp to the inside of the ship.

"Jim?" he says, coughing as dark gray smoke curls out of the entrance. There's no reply.

Waving away the thick substance, he steps into the ship, finding Jim lying unconscious on the floor. The captain is spread-eagled on his back, with a trail of blood running down from a wound on his left temple.

Bones kneels next to him as Scotty enters the ship. The Scotsman doesn't say anything as the doctor does a scan of Jim's condition.

"Concussion," he says to no one in particular. "Damn it. It's pretty bad, but I might still be able to heal it. Mr. Scott, find any medical worker from the city."

"Aye, sir."

Scotty leaves, only to be replaced by Spock. "How is he, Doctor?" Though it's subtle, McCoy can detect the concern in his voice.

"A concussion is the first thing needing immediate treatment. Otherwise, I think… I think he'll be alright," he says, calming himself down with his own words.

"Good," the Vulcan says, straightening and emptying his face of expression. "I have a few things to discuss with him."

Bones frowns. "After all this, you're still thinkin' about that argument?"

"Indirectly, yes."

He resists the temptation to roll his eyes and turns back to Jim. He's cleaning the wound and the blood off the captain's face when Scotty returns with a nurse.

"Good," Bones says. "We need to get him to the closest hospital."

_Kirk __*_

Jim awakens to a feeling of confusion. He knows he's not in the _Graynet _any longer, and he's lying down. He knows his body is aching as though someone beat him with a cane, and he has a headache.

What he doesn't know is how he got here, and why.

He opens his eyes. As he glances around, he realizes he must be in a hospital.

There's a soft whooshing sound as the doors open and someone enters.

"Ah, Jim, you're awake. How d'you feel?" Bones asks, coming over and setting something on a small tray table.

"About like someone hit me on a rock sixteen times."

"Well," he says with a small laugh, "you're not far off. What's the last thing you remember?"

"An explosion in front of the ship I was in… and then being thrown to the ceiling, I think."

"Sounds about right. The craft caught on fire and went into free fall. The only reason you're not debris in the collision is because of Mister Spock. He can explain it to you. He's been wantin' to talk with you ever since we found you yesterday afternoon."

At first Kirk just nods, then a tiny course of dread pulses through him. He doesn't want to talk to Spock again; he doesn't want to argue with him.

"I'll send him in," Bones says, oblivious to Jim's thought train, and leaves.

Only a few moments later, Spock enters the room.

"Captain, I believe we have much to discuss," he says, somewhat stiffly, as he enters with his arms behind his back.

Something in Jim sinks. He was hoping the Vulcan would perhaps be reasonable and ignore their argument, but apparently he has no such luck.

"I don't want to argue with you, Spock," he replies, his voice weary.

Spock's expression warms, though he doesn't smile. "I did not come to argue with you, Jim. But there are things I will discuss with you."

"Such as?"

"First of all, I would like to say that you are a selfish bastard."

Kirk blinks. "I, uh, thought you didn't want to argue. But I will protest to that, so you've got it on your hands anyway."

Spock ignores him. "You will not go off on a suicide mission claiming that you do not want to lose me. I am your first officer, you are my captain, and it is logical to send someone lower in rank than yourself. Next time such a situation arises—which it inexorably will—I request that you allow me to take your place."

Jim tries to hide the smile that creeps onto his face. "I will keep that in mind, Mister Spock. I also know I'll never agree to it."

Spock sighs. "I do not know what to do with you, Captain. You are most illogical, and it _will _be the death of you."

"That's very optimistic of you," he notes.

It takes him a moment, but Spock smiles ever so slightly. "I assume you are curious as to why you are not dead?"

"I am. How did you manage that?"

"I adjusted the circuits on the shield mechanism and concentrated the force toward your craf. I was mostly unable to tell where I was aiming, but I attempted to target the falling ship to slow it down. The force was not powerful enough to temporarily stop it, nor prolonged enough to freeze it in its place. However, the force of the energy against the force of gravity was plenty to avoid an explosive collision."

Jim works this through with raised eyebrows. "That's a, uh, little bit far-fetched, don't you think?"

"The mathematics balanced out," he says simply.

"Almost like a hunch."

"Vulcans do not play hunches, Captain."

"Someday you might want to stop lying to yourself, Mister Spock," says a soft voice from the door.

"Uhura," Jim says, pleased to see her. "Doctor McCoy had better get back in here; it seems we're getting a collection."

"How are you, Captain?" she asks, coming up to stand near Spock. Near him in an interesting way, in Kirk's opinion.

"I feel… well enough," he says with a smile. "How are you?"

"Well, we've all been worried about you, especially Mister Spock here," she says, playfully tapping his shoulder, "but I'm quite well."

"I am—" Spock shuts himself up suddenly. It takes Jim and Uhura a moment to figure what he was about to say, but as soon as they do, Kirk laughs.

"You are not, Mister Spock," he says with a smile. "Not entirely."

Uhura can't help but laugh too as Spock stands, his eyebrows raised and a tiny hint of amusement touching his features, probably pondering the pure eccentricity of humans.

_Spock_

"Y'know, it's nice not having you two angry with each other," McCoy says as the trio of men stroll through the city with nothing to do. "It got old real quickly."

Spock stiffens slightly, knowing the doctor has been trying to annoy him with his poor grammar for the last half hour. "Real is an adjective, Doctor. Real_ly _is an adverb."

The doctor grins. "I'll keep that in mind, Mister Spock."

Jim shakes his head, smiling. "It is better this way, isn't it?"

"Undoubtedly. I think Spock didn't know what to do with himself without you, Jim," McCoy says with a smirk.

"You have no foundation for that, Doctor."

The captain and McCoy exchange amused expressions. Spock shakes his head.

"How long till shore leave's over, Jim?" McCoy asks. "Or at least, how long until the new _Enterprise _is complete?"

"Who knows when Starfleet will decide to pull us back to duty? But I think my ship should be complete within another couple of months."

"Can you survive that long without it?"

"It is strange not to be on a starship all the time."

"Nevertheless," Spock says, "you do manage to get yourself into trouble."

"What can I say? Trouble has a way of finding me."

"That does not mean it's unavoidable, Captain."

"Spock?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Call me Jim. Please."

"Captain!"

They turn to find Lieuten—Nyota jogging toward them.

Jim sighs. Spock can tell he's thinking it's useless to attempt to be called Jim. "Yes, Uhura?"

Before she speaks, Spock's keen hearing picks up the doctor's muttered sentence to Kirk, "You might as well change your first name to 'Captain,' Jim. No one would notice."

"I got a message from Starfleet just a moment ago. It came through a communicator. They need help on Starbase Sixteen and are sending a spacecraft to come get us."

"Help? What do they need help with?"

"They have an overabundance of problems, it seems, and not many other people to call on."

"What're their problems?"

She blinks a couple times and says, "They're called tribbles."


End file.
